Thursday, November 05, 2009

What If Tea Parties Ever Got Violent?

The potential for violence is an undercurrent at all political demonstrations and I've wondered whether the Tea Parties were prepared for that possibility. The Tea Parties are Disney versions of real (and potentially scary) political protests. Most of the Tea Party participants are firmly ensconced in the middle class and would bolt from all of them if lefty loonies showed up with guns.

The folks at this location look at the problem from a different angle, and wonder if Fox News would be liable for damages if a loony of any persuasion got violent, using, as an example, the recent Sacramento Wii case:
What steps has Fox parent News Corporation taken to protect their assets in the event of a shooting at a Fox sponsored tea party event?

Last week a jury ruled that Entercom Communications Corp (ETM:NYSE) subsidiary has to pay 16.6 million to the family of a Sacramento woman who died in a radio station water-drinking contest.. (Link) Although she signed a waiver and the station claimed they were not responsible for her actions, the jury still ruled that the subsidiary was negligent in the wrongful death case.

News Corp subsidiary Fox News has been actively organizing and promoting "Tea parties". Angry Fox viewers have brought weapons to these events to intimidated the President and other politicians. If someone is shot Fox will of course claim that they are not responsible for the actions of individuals just like Entercom did. But as we have now seen in the Entercom case that defense does not hold up in court. especially when the station is the driving force for getting people to participate.

It appears that Fox is not only ignoring the danger signs, it is actively calling for action that they have no way of controlling in an effort to boost ratings.

No comments:

Post a Comment